Madame Leota Effect In Progress!

Hey Frightners!

So I am still working away on my haunt and have been taking video, pictures, and audio while I have been doing it so I can upload here and share and finally today I am steps away from completing this years display with the last addition of Madame Leota!

A few months back the gracious Mr. Chicken of Mr. Chickens Yard Haunt & Shellhawk of Shellhawks Nest did a BlogTV episode where they did a full build start to finish of the process of making a Madame Leota Projection Effect for your Halloween Display. They took the time to show how to record a custom video of yourself as madame leota (in this case it was Shelly doing acting!) then they proceeded to show how to edit the video, make the DVD, set up the crystal ball display and finally project the video. All around it was a great and inspiring BlogTV that made me say "Let's give it a try!"

I went out and purchased the Eyeclops Mini Projector which is the same projector that they used in the tutorial. The price ranges from $40 up to $60 depending on where you get it. I purchased mine on Ebay brand new for $40. It's a nice projector, small and compact and easy to set up and use. It's not something that is great for huge crystal clear projections but for this specific prop it does the trick. The only downside is that you will need to purchase your own RCA cables for it as it does not come with them. Now if your using a DVD player then you should have some RCA cable but if your going to be using your computer or and iPod like I am using you will need to get the right kind of RCA cable with the right extensions so you may be looking at another $30-$40 on top of the price of your projector so thats just an FYI but bottom line is this...$80 for a projector isn't bad for this type of use however, if your looking to do bigger and better projection effects in the future it may be worth investing in a much better higher end projector. For me this does the job and doesn't break the bank.

Now that I have my Mini Projector I downloaded my Madame Leota video which you can find on Youtube. There are a lot of versions. You can convert the video into an Mpeg format using a site such as  Zamzar.com

I added the video to my iPod and set it to loop and TaDa! Poof! Like magic there it was projecting onto my foam wig head. Now all thats left to do is put my wighead into a crystal ball ( I am using the Gemmy Spirit Ball which I already had) add a wig and set up the projector until it all lines up right.

Now you may need to do a little light sculpting and add some paper clay to the wig head to get some better features and a better effect but for this year I am happy with what I have and will aim to do a better presentation next year. I may even give the singing busts from the Haunted Mansion a try next year or perhaps a few singing pumpkins....projection effects have endless possibilities and there really is an instant gratification to them that comes much easier than some other props you have to slave over so if you don't have one I highly suggest giving it a try in the future.

I will be adding video of my Leota once it is fully complete in the set up but for now take a look at the quick test picture above for my progress and the vide below of how I intend to set mine up.

Happy Haunting!